Instagram vs. Reality

Instagram. It all seems perfect when really it's not. Being a blogger you're almost expected to have a perfectly curated feed, and have all of your photos look high quality, but there can be a certain point where it's like this is not how my life actually looks. During the weekdays I spend most of my day in school with a messy bun, and some stylish outfit, but not as stylish as what people may see on my blog or Instagram. I don't always look super fantastic, and I have bad days every now and then, I mean we all do. But even on those bad days a lot of bloggers and influencers still act perfect on Instagram because we are expected to always be happy, and in a good mood. Me personally when I'm having a bad day I talk about it on my story, and I get so much support from everyone which always feels great. But I don't have bad days that much, but when I do everyone usually makes me feel better about it. To talk about big accounts, it's almost a thing that can become hurtful because if you're a big account and people look up to you and you only show your good side, then your audience will somewhat be jealous of your lifestyle even through your lifestyle may not be all that. It's almost like showing a false image of yourself, and making yourself seem superficial to everyone else that follows you.

I thought I would include a couple funny pictures in here because let's be real who doesn't get sidetracked while doing a photo shoot and takes ugly front camera selfies. Or it's just what I do haha!! But on a real note bloggers are just like any other people. We aren't better than anyone else, we just have more publicity. I wish more people would grasp onto that because it can be negative sometimes to only show the good things in your life, and act like everything is perfect because nothing in life is perfect.

So here is my feed as of right now when I'm writing this. By looking at my Instagram you can see that I like fashion, and my images all have bright lightning, and such. But let me tell you my Instagram takes planning, hard work, editing, and all kinds of marketing. So you wonder why it looks good, because hours go into this. So when you scroll through it blogger's feed it looks really good, but we spend tons of time on Instagram to make it look amazing for the people that look at our content. And you have to think about it, a lot of bloggers work with brands, and we have to have good quality images to give a good representation of that specific brand, and of ourselves. We also get paid for a specific photo, so of course it has to look good and have the right hashtags and such.

Another example of Instagram vs reality is this one. The first image is on my Instagram, and the second one was when I was trying to take photos of this outfit but then it was too bright and the background did not look professional. So it just goes to show that we only show the best photos we get because we are expected to show our best side. I have also seen some bloggers and other big influencers being caught for using Photoshop to slim down their bodies, and remove people from their travel photos at a huge destination. And to me that's just sad because it shows that you're being fake, and making yourself seem like your life is perfect when really it's not. I understand how someone could feel insecure about their body because woman get bombarded by the media to be skinny, and have a specific body type. That may be causing some people to edit their photos to that extreme because they feel pressure in one way or another to please the media. It shouldn't get to that point where you're showing a false image to lots of people because that just adds to the negativity of being the "ideal" body type, and it will encourage others to follow in that path.

I just wanted to post about a topic like this to spread awareness, and I really encourage everyone to be realistic on their Instagram's. You can also keep an awesome looking feed and be real at the same time with everyone on your Insta story, or in your captions. Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys on Friday with another post!

I so much love your article Courtney! It is correct that every blogger wants the Instagram feed to look at its best and puts a lot of effort in it. Cutting out obstacles of photoshop the body is a result out of it. It sure is all fake but people want to look at beautiful pictures, so sad but unfortunately the truth. Have a good week sweetie

I completely agree! Instagram is a funny thing. Of course I realize it's always going to be everyone's highlights, and for me, peoples stories are what really show real life. I am one of those that goes against the grain and refuses to have a perfectly curated feed, with a color scheme, and only perfect pics. I'm sure it probably hurts me, but I feel better knowing I'm still being true to myself. Sierra ~ Beautifully Candid

Great topic courtney. I can totally relate with you. I rarely that stylish in my daily life. I am usually in tights and t-shirts, but then for my blog I glamour up and wear the outfits that I wish I would wear in my daily life. But thanks for sharing. http://www.easys-tyle.com/

Your pictures really made me chuckle and are so true! It's like that moment when you accidentally put on the front facing camera. Thankfully, we can project a much more polished look on IG, even though we know it's often far from how we look when we post!Jaz xoxohttp://www.thelifeofasocialbutterfly.co.uk

i don't have a problem with people wanting to put their best face forward for me it is all the self serving faking that goes on on IG. I would say about %70 of "followers" and comments and likes are fake.

You are so darn cute. Love your pics and your post. Sure, there is a lot of pressure for the perfect Instagram life. However, we all know that life is never perfect, even if we tried, it doesn’t work like that. Each picture for me is a small piece of a whole story, and I look at my Instagram as a gallery of images that are more effective standing together than they are alone.

Great subject dear.... I do not edit my images, I filter them, I brighten them when needed, or darken them, reduce highlight (sunny Bali needed that)... but otherwise.. all real for me! no need to hide anything really! I love to flaunt it! good side bad side...hahahahahaahttp://sepatuholig.blogspot.com/ig @grace_njio

This was such a lovely post to read through. I love your honesty online too, so refreshing to see! Definitely agree with you, Instagram is a completely different world, a world that almost doesn't exist!

I have never fallen victim to the Instagram mentality that everything has to be picture perfect but maybe that is because I'm older and had the opportunity to grow up and live life without social media so I had a grounded sense of reality. My feed represents me and my life accurately. When I'm moody you know it, when my photos aren't perfect I still post them and I still get a lot of engagement because I am authentic. LaToya www.toyastales.blogspot.com

Great post and so so true! I think we all try and post the best things on Instagram, but some people do seem to be on the extreme and they are the ones that are usually being paid for their posts, so it makes sense to an extent. I like a mix of things on Insta though! Not all of my photos are amazing and glamorous, but it's my life and I like being able to see that too.

This is a great topic to discuss!! I think the most important thing here is to always remember that the perfect instagram feed is a result of a selection, editing and production process. Nobody has that kind of perfect life, it's just what they choose to show because Instagram is their job as Influencer/blogger.

Great post, Courtney! We should be discussing this topic more often. Even though social media is a great tool to unwind and to immerse ourselves into another world, we mustn't forget that all that glitters is not gold. Most of the photos are staged and then edited to perfection.

I struggle with both my IG and blog pics seeing most of my pics are done taking them on my own with a remote and camera on tripod. So effects such as playing with aperture for Bokeh effects is kinda difficult. And when I get friends or my husband to help occasionally, somehow you feel rushed or can't get the right angle as they view things differently than what we have in mind. So there you go - feel for you and totally understand. Thanks for sharing... if you view my IG feed you can slowly see how my pics have evolved through the years.

Courtney, great post with a great message! I am not a professional and I do not use a professional photographer (except for very special occasions), so my photos are amateur just like me! And that's how I like it. The message I am sending with my blog is that I am a real, actual person showing people my true genuine self and what I actually wear on a daily basis. Nothing fake, nothing edited (except for a few lighting changes and some cropping)...real and raw is what you get. Even those harsh unsightly shadows of your self that you can get in a photo...I leave those in my picutres, too, because I am not a vampire! I do have a shadow! Anyway, you are adorable, your IG feed is adorable, and this post is fabulous! Thanks for sharing it.

Lovely post Courtney, some of those pics are really funny and real. I like to look serious on my pics but I am actually a pretty smiley person, I guess sometimes we want to project an image that is somewhat different to our reality because of all the pressure we receive from social media, so this is a good reminder to keep it real. Have a great week, lovely!